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Express buses to start operating March 16

50 more buses will ply EDSA

Express Bus is what it’s called, it will have 50 units and they will start traversing EDSA on a two-stop-only strategy March 16.

Two sets of buses will have two routes each: Fairview, Quezon City to Ayala Avenue, Makati and vice-versa while the other is from Fairview, Quezon City to Ortigas Center, Pasig City and vice-versa.

“It’s a pilot project. If it is good and people will appreciate it, let’s do it. We really want this to be a better bus service so that slowly, we upgrade our bus service,” said Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.

If successful in reducing travel time from Quezon City to Makati, this project may expand to other crucial areas in the metro.

Exact pick-up locations in Fairview, Ayala Avenue and Ortigas have yet to be announced.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Winston Ginez will mull with the idea of adding a stop if the bus was only 60% full or to allow buses to pick-up or unload passengers whose destinations are in the middle of the routes but this has yet to be added to the official plan.

To be easily recognizable, the Express Buses will have the same colors and markings, and to maximize their efficiency will adhere to a fixed schedule with a 5am start and will be excluded from the number-coding scheme.

Also under consideration is requiring the buses to provide Wi-Fi services and a GPS system for tracking.

With just a little over a month before the Express Buses begin operations, the agencies involved have yet to finalize the fare matrix.

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